EVANSTON — The Soroptimist Club of Evanston held its annual dinner to award scholarships on Thursday, Dec. 19. The dinner was hosted by Main Street Deli and guests were treated to a turkey dinner with Stephanie Anderson’s special cupcakes for dessert.

Soroptimist President Jessica Kendrick began the ceremony by playing “This Girl’s on Fire,” sung by Alicia Keys. 

“We have power as women. Like Keys says in the song, we keep our feet on the ground and our head in the clouds and we are on fire. Soroptimist’s goal is to invest in women and girls and help them shine their light,” Kendrick said. She then turned the time over to awards chair Bailey Snyder.

Snyder said the scholarship program continues to grow, and that since 2014, the local group has given out 11 scholarships. She said most of the money raised by the Evanston Soroptimists stays local, and their goal is to empower women and girls.

“Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment,” states their website.

Snyder asked the three women who were last year’s scholarship winners to come up and tell their stories. 

Makayla Wynn was the first to stand and tell how the scholarship had helped her to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing and is now working on her master’s in nursing leadership and Management. She is the mother of three children and works at Best Home Health. She thanked the Soroptimist for giving her the help she needed to move from being a CNA to where she is now. 

The next past recipient of a scholarship was Marcie Whitacker, who received her CNA training with the help of Soroptimist and is now working on her nursing degree.

“I was having a really rough time with my husband’s suicide,” Whitacker said, “but I realized that bad things are part of life and one must just keep going. I thank Soroptimists for the help.”

Cara Ward also received a scholarship last year and is working on her psychology degree. She said she should complete her associate’s degree by next year.

Snyder then announced the winners of this year’s scholarships. 

The first woman to accept her award was Noel Thompson, who is Cara Ward’s sister. Noel told the audience that she is a single mom of two who was widowed at 35 years of age. She said she knew she just had to keep going on for her two children. She was managing an apartment complex and realized she wanted to go to college but then realized that it costs money. So she applied for the scholarship and was “euphoric” when she received it. Thompson said she wants to be a role model for her two children. She thanked the Soroptimist Club.

Single mom of a 5-year-old son, Diana Servin was the next winner of a scholarship. She was too excited to say much but thanked Soroptimist for the chance to go to college and improve her and her son’s lives.

The last winner of a scholarship was Erin Henningar who has one son. She has an associate’s degree but wants to earn a bachelor’s degree in social psychology and then go directly on to earn a master’s degree. Her desire is to work with women and help to empower them as many of the women in the audience have done for her.

“My mother was a single mom and she taught me to embrace change and to never give up. Many strong women have helped me and I want to give back,” Henningar said.

Concluding the event, Kendrick gave gifts to the two high school girls who attended and then thanked all for coming. She ended the evening with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “A woman is like a tea bag — you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”